Female vocals... Always sure to raise some converse among metal music followers. Prometheus, who are still newcomers, feature godly female vocals. The band have released 'Beneath an Alien Sky', their debut album, on their own and are looking for a label to market it.

For starters, while Prometheus's music is pretty individual, it has one big flaw: The songs are way too similar! A song starts with beuatiful female vocals, piano and rhythm section, and then, enter the metal guitars. The music is pretty simple, focusing on rhythm more than creating melodies, and when melodies happen they are created by keyboards and strings. Usually, the beautiful and full voice of Sharon is heard alone, but at times there's choir contructions. There is some highlights, as good old 'Rodent Speech, 'Mothership' and more eventful 'Vortex Virus', but in 40 minutes, the band must've been more daring. If there was no Sharon, this would be pretty much boring. The album was recorded over 2 years ago, so things could be different with newer material.

The sound is basic and a bit flat, like demo-level sound.I must admit Sharon's vocals shine in this soundscape. Guitars are a bit muffled, as is the snare drum. It should be more kicking in general. 'Beneath an Alien Sky' is a thematic album. In its science fiction story, a race is forced to leave its home planet before an alien armada destroys them. The search for a home planet begins. The story is pretty okay, and I think it could make for more picturesque music.

Prometheus's debut album is good at its best, but just not a daring enough an effort. The band should concentrate for creating memorable music, because this time they build heavily upon good female vocal performance. Hopefuly the new material is more varying. However, I suggest any metal head who fancy female vocals to check out Prometheus.

Rating: 5 (out of 10) ratings explained

Reviewed by Lane
01/28/2007 19:19